The Whistling Gale: Bullet and Blossom
by Lone Wolf NEO
Summary: Amidst bloodshed and countless of bodies, a purple petal is found. As time goes by, so does the mystery surrounding the petal and a group linked to its existence. Updated.
1. Purple Petal

**The Whistling Gale**

**Bullet and Blossom **

**Written by**:  
Lone Wolf NEO

**Conceived by**:  
Lone Wolf NEO

**PROLOGUE  
PURPLE PETAL **

_// August 27th, XXXX. Undisclosed area, Sicily //_

"This is Alpha Squad. Base Command, situation report."

_"This is Base Command. Area is clear. You may proceed."_

"This is Alpha Squad, negative. There are still guards standing at the main gate. Please clarify."

_"Beta Squad has neutralized all threats. Those are the only ones left. It's up to you to take care."_

"Roger. Over and out."

The man switched off the transmitter. He gazed at the young girl standing next to him. He sighed. "Looks like we have to do this on our own," he said and loaded his USP. "Are you ready, Mariel?"

The young girl said nothing. She took out a meteor hammer and wrapped its rope around her hands. She, then, glanced at the unaware guards who were patrolling in front of a warehouse. "I am ready whenever you are, mentor," softly she spoke.

"Good. Let's move."

The duo walked out of their cover. They ran down the road that lead to the warehouse and took the guards by surprise. "Halt!" The girl in simple school uniform pounced at the guard and threw the meteor hammer onto his head. She made a somersault and slammed the unconscious guard's buddy from above.

"What the hell is going on here?!" The last guard was silenced as the man who accompanied the girl fired a couple of times on his body. He caught up with the girl and resumed their run.

"Alpha Squad to Base Command," the man spoke through the headset, "we've passed the guards. We are now heading to the warehouse."

_"Remember to stick to your main objective. Once you retrieve the documents, leave the vicinity and meet up at the rendezvous point." _

"Roger."

The duo reached the warehouse. They wasted no time and stormed in. While the man shot down a couple of armed personnel, the girl dashed forward and delivered killing blows to the technicians. The rest of the personnel were alerted and immediately they opened fire at the intruders. Hundreds of 5.56mm bullets were sprayed at their position, but the duo already took cover behind a truck.

" Mentor, I need advice," the girl requested while ducked low to avoid shrapnel.

"You're free to do whatever you think best," the man answered and reloaded his USP.

The firing stopped, and the girl immediately seized the opportunity. "Understood." The girl snatched a nearby M4 Commando with the meteor hammer. She jumped out of cover and fired several headshots at the gunmen. She rolled toward a crate and fired at them from the position.

_"Alpha Squad, we hear gunfire. Is there anything alright?" _

The man turned on the headset. "Alpha Squad to Base Command. Situation under control. We're just facing a bit of resistance."

_"Do you need extra backups?" _

The man ducked an RPG. "I think we should."

The glass was shattered. Everybody looked up and saw a girl jumped into the warehouse from the ceiling. The girl gave them no chance of retaliation when she fired torrents of spray pellets from her SPAS-12. The duo took the advantage from the chaos and charged at the remaining gunmen, firing more bullets at them. The synchronized attack sent everyone in chaos and the opposing gunmen were unable to outwit them despite their advantage in numbers.

The shootout ended. The trio of operatives stood out amidst piles of corpse in the warehouse. The stench of flesh and blood did not distract them. They merely stood in the middle of the 'battlefield' and looked around. The silver-haired girl dropped the assault rifle she was holding and clipped the meteor hammer onto the belt's strap. She yawned softly and outstretched, only to be playfully embraced by the athletic girl who proceeded to rub her cheek against her scalp.

The man left the girls. He approached the computer and examined one of the DVDs. "This is Alpha Squad. All documents have been secured," he reported.

_"Good job, Alpha Squad. Retrieve everything you see. Don't leave anything behind." _

"Copy that." He signalled at the girls to help him with the DVDs. They obliged and approached the single man, helping him to gather the digital disc. Occasionally the silver-haired girl would ask whether she could watch some of the DVDs before the athletic girl reminded with a playful chop on the head.

_"This is Base Command. The police are arriving. Pull out." _

"Roger." He turned to the girls. "Let's get out of here." Without hesitation, they headed to the backdoor and left the bloodshed scene.

x-x-x-x-x

_// several hours later //_

"What do you think, Jean?"

"This was not done by the mafia. I can tell."

"Do you have any evidence to support your statement?"

The blonde man knelt. He picked up a bullet and gazed closely onto it. "This is of military-grade," he uttered and put it into an envelope. "If mafia did indeed do this, they must surely have done the execution with military-standard perfection. Besides--"

He stood back. He glanced at the tan-skinned, ponytail girl who was prodding one of the dead bodies with the Remington's bayonet. She was seen leaving the dead body and approached the red-haired girl who was examining the empty DVD cases on the desk.

"Mafias wouldn't even bother going as far as this just for a couple of pirated DVDs," he continued. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

He approached the girls. He examined the messy desk and found a piece of purple-coloured petal on the keyboard. The girls were intrigued by the presence of the petal, and they looked at him who was staring sternly at the petal.

_"Bougainvillea flower…" _

x-x-x-x-x

**Author's note**: I have decided to split _Heart of Melting Blood: the Whistling Gale_ into several separate premises. _Bullet and Blossom_ is one of the premises, with the story of the Bougainvillea Brigade being the main focus. This also allows me to further work on the special operation unit without disrupting the current events in _The Whistling Gale_'s Feathers of Memory Arc.

_And this is just the beginning… _


	2. Beautiful Morning

**CHARTER 01  
BEAUTIFUL MORNING **

The melodic tune of _Canon in D_ stirred her. Drowsy, she woke up and yawned, stretching her arms at the same time. She rubbed her eyes and looked outside the window. Sighing in delight when sunlight penetrated the curtain and enveloped her body, she jumped off the bed and approached it. Instantly the morning ray of the Mediterranean entered the room and heated its interior.

Mariel giggled. "Good morning, Sicily."

She headed to the villa's kitchen after quick shower and dress-up. The aroma of toast caught her attention, and her tummy growled in hunger. The desire for breakfast that was driving her crazy died out as she entered the kitchen; two of the mentors were quarrelling on what was on the menu.

"I told you it has to be toast and omelette!" Wolfgang Hartmann argued.

"Your menu selection is going to starve the children! Rice ball with roasted eel are better," Sophia Asakawa insisted.

"Rice ball? Eel? You and your strange appetite are scaring them!" Hartmann jeered. "That's why it's toast and omelette!"

"Why, hello Hartmann-_kun_, let me prepare the breakfast!" Sophia replied.

Mariel ignored the commotion and took seat next to Illiya. The tall girl greeted her with a morning hug and feverishly kissed her flushed cheek. "A very good morning, my sweet little sister," playfully Illiya spoke.

"Illiya, you're going to scare Mariel away," the eyeglasses-totting girl reminded.

Illiya chortled and stared at the girl. "Aw, I just want to play with Mariel," she replied. "You don't have to be such a meanie, Nadia. Okay?"

"You're even worse than I thought," she chided.

**"ZA WARUDO!" **

Both the adults jumped off their feet in surprise. They looked behind him and saw a man nonchalantly took the pot from Sophia. "Every time you start an argument," he said and stored the pot, "God kills a kitten. Please think of the kitten."

"What does kitten have to do with breakfast?!" Hartmann roared. The man simply ignored him and approached the tables, putting down what looked like a bag containing roast chicken and sat next to Mariel. The aroma of the food immediately made the girls crave for food, and they would have gotten their hands over it had the man not reminded them to behave.

"Aaron, you're being stingy," Illiya pouted. "I don't like mean people."

"Then a misbehaving girl won't have a piece of the chicken," the man replied and handed a drumstick to the awaiting Mariel. "Good girls always get the best part."

"Hey! That's not fair!" Illiya protested.

The man laughed and gave a piece of chicken wing to her. "Here's one for you," he said and did the same to Nadia and the brunette girl seated next to her.

"Aaron."

The elegant-looking man turned to her. "Yes?"

She smiled. "Thanks for the meal."

"What's our plan after this?"

"Let me see." Nadia took out her booklet, browsing through the pages as to look for her timetable. "We're scheduled to fly to Zagreb this afternoon. Then we'll take our flight to Istanbul before arriving at Odessa. Our trip is expected to take 15 hours depending on the circumstances. That is all." She closed the booklet and continued eating her breakfast. "I heard we're going to have a new recruit next month."

"A boy?" Illiya inexplicably squealed and threw her hands wildly. "Finally! My wish has been granted! I'm so excited!"

"What's that about, Illiya?" Nadia jeered. "Don't we already have Joan to take care of?"

"But Joan isn't manly enough to suit my taste!" Illiya retorted. Hartmann and Aaron fell to the floor, laughing uncontrollably at the answer. "Hey! It's not even funny. Stop laughing!"

"What's ironic about your wish is that Joan is already manly enough to become your groom," Hartmann mocked between his laughs.

_(At the nearby beach, the said person was jogging when he suddenly sneezed. "What was that for?" he growled and rubbed his nose.) _

Illiya's only response was to toss a knife at the instructor. It missed his crotch by an inch and made him stop laughing. "You just don't get it," she grumbled and left the meal untouched.

"Then I'll have to finish this for you," the brunette girl uttered and took the plate.

Nadia glowered at her. "You're an eating machine, Flay," she murmured. "Two plates aren't going to satisfy your greed." She kept staring at Flay who was unaware of what her 'sister' was doing. "But you aren't even gaining weight. I don't understand."

Their breakfast session ended after 15 minutes when Mariel finished her meal. She helped Sophia cleaning the table and washing the dishes. They were engaged in casual conversations, occasionally interfered by the spectacled Nadia who offered to help. Flay helped Hartmann and Aaron sweeping the kitchen floor, the latter twos complained at the house chores they were involuntarily doing, and shouted in protest when their female colleagues laughed at them.

"I thought we could stay here a bit longer," Mariel murmured. "It's the first time I've ever gone to Sicily. I kind of expected to spend our last day at the beach, at least."

"Well, our Chief didn't want us to stay overseas for too long," the Japanese-Russian woman replied. "Besides, when Nadia said we're going to have a recruit, it means we'll have a new family member. Right?"

"I'm afraid Illiya will only abuse her authority to dominate that person," Nadia chided. "With due respect, ma'am, you're her instructor. Can't you do anything to regulate her?"

"Now, now, Nadia-_chan_," Sophia replied (and made the girl bluish at the suffix she was using). "Why don't you go upstairs and pack your stuffs up? We don't want to miss our flight. Da-ka-ra…"

"EN GARDE!"

The house occupants turned to the source of the voice. "Oh, looks like our Missus Dominator is channelling her anger towards her target," Nadia uttered.

At the living room, Joan was seen parrying Illiya's punches and kicks, shouting helplessly for help while jumping over all obstacles. "Somebody please tell me what's going on?!" he cried out and dodged Illiya's roundhouse kick.

"Should we help him, Miss Sophia?" Mariel asked.

The woman shrugged. _"Sa…"_

-x-x-x-x-x-

_"Investigators are still baffled by the shootout incident which took place at the container dockyard. Whether it was caused by clash between crime gangs or internal disputes among syndicate members, they are still searching for evidences that will eventually lead to the discovery of the culprits. When asked whether there is any connection between the incident and government's secret agency, Chief Inspector Alfonso Columbus told news agencies his unit is currently searching for clues at the site and informed the discovery of a flower petal found in the area." _

The iPod radio was switched off. Mariel caught her summer hat before it was blown off her head. Standing in front of the villa her team had lodged for two weeks she threw her sight to the open sea and gazed into the infinite blueness. None of her colleagues were present: Illiya, Hartmann and Aaron were carrying equipments into one of their rented SUVs; Joan, Flay and another child operative named Kyoko were cleaning the villa's interiors; Nadia stayed inside her room to maintain her tools of the trade. The lone girl was the only person not having anything to do on that day, and with her hands free she planned to have a quick stroll along the coastline.

"I surely will miss this place…"

She bunny-hopped off the staircase. Not taking care of Illiya who was calling for help, Mariel headed to the beach. She turned on the music player and tuned into one of her play-lists: most of the songs were of Baroque and classical genre and she was enjoying the music as she strolled along the sandy coastline.

Her steps met an abrupt end.

A red-haired girl was standing not far from her, gazing up into Sicily's afternoon sky. Holding a violin bag between her arms, she was unaware of Mariel or her presence in the vicinity, or the fact that the young Englishwoman was staring at her in curiosity.

"Umm… excuse me."

The red-haired girl turned to her, surprised by Mariel's presence. "Yes?"

Mariel approached her. "Are you new around here? I never meet you before."

She shook her head. "Not really. I've been here a lot," she replied. "What about you?"

"It's my first time," Mariel said. "Sadly today I have to go home. We must attend a family gathering."

"That's too bad." Slowly she approached her, her eyes glued on the iPod Mariel was holding. "What are you listening to?"

"Oh, this?" Mariel took off the left earphone, put it into her ear and turned up the volume. The girl listened to the music and found herself tapping her feet to its rhythms. "What do you think?"

"I like this song," she said. "It sounds familiar, somehow."

Mariel nodded. "It's Canon. I really like the composition. I wish I can play it on piano someday."

The girl cooed. "Canon in D? Oh, I've always wanted to play it on violin. I like the song, too."

They heard a loud horn coming from the car park. They turned around and saw someone waving from one of the black SUVs. "Mariel! Hurry up! We're going to leave!" the person shouted.

"Y-yes! I'm coming!" She turned back to the girl. "I'd like to know more about you, but I have to go now. My family's awaiting me."

She nodded. "Okay. By the way, what's your name?"

Mariel giggled. "Mariel. And yours?"

The redheaded girl smiled. "I'm Henrietta. Pleased to meet you, Mariel."

The silver-haired girl bowed and rushed to the awaiting van. Henrietta simply watched from faraway, as Mariel headed to the car park and embarked on one of the SUVs.

"I've been looking for you. Everyone's worried because you just disappeared without warning." Henrietta said nothing as she was busy watching at Mariel who was seen talking with some girls outside the van. Triela looked at the direction Henrietta was watching; her eyebrow batted up in curiosity. "Say, who are those?"

"A new friend," Henrietta said and waved back to Mariel when she waved to her. "Triela."

"Hmm? What is it, Henrietta?"

She looked up at her. "When we get back to our base, will you help me on violin practice?"

Triela's eyebrow batted upward again. "You never even told me of that. What's up with that? Trying to impress Giuseppe, eh Henrietta?"

Henrietta giggled. "That's not the case." She, then, threw her sights into the sky, grinning as she tightened her arms around her violin case.

_"That's not the case…" _


End file.
